


Let a Sleeping Chuck Lie

by curiously_me



Category: Pacific Rim
Genre: Chuck Lives, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 16:30:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5547359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiously_me/pseuds/curiously_me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kisses don't magically awaken people, except for when they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let a Sleeping Chuck Lie

**Author's Note:**

> Written for my kiss bingo card, for the prompt Type: Sleeping Beauty... which I tweaked just a smidgen.

When they received the faint signal from one of Striker Eureka's rescue pods, Hercules Hansen felt as if his heart would burst right out from behind his ribs from the hope he was feeling in that moment.

There was a chance, slim as it may be, that his son was still alive. He was a soldier and was willing to give everything for the cause, had raised his son with the same mindset, but in the end Herc would never have imagined sending his son on a suicide mission without him.

But, the moment the computer started beeping it's signal and Tendo turned towards his screens once more, Herc felt like maybe he was being granted a second change.

"That's my son you have there." He'd said to Stacker, as they left for Stiker's conn-pod. "My son."

While Chuck hadn't understood the sentiment behind the words, Herc knew that Stacker understood what he was actually saying, that he was pleading with his friend, not his superior, to find some way for them to survive the upcoming mission. Stacker was a parent, too, and Herc knew he would understand what he was asking, knew that if it was in the other man's power he would bring them back to the Shatterdome in as few pieces as he could manage.

"Herc?" Tendo's voice snapped the Australian pilot from his frantic thoughts.

"They've retrieved both Mako and Raleigh and initial reports say that they are both doing ok, other than some bruises and strained muscles, that is. The first sweep is heading back to the Shatterdome with the medical helicopter, while the second sweep continues on to the coordinates Striker's rescue pod is broadcasting.

"We should know within the next hour what the status of it's occupant is." Tendo reported, and Herc noted how the technician didn't use any names or even dared to imply that whoever was in that pod had survived.

He knows how slim the chance of survival is. With how close to the nuclear blast the pod would have been ejected, the likelihood that the individual inside had radiation burns was likely and they would have been thrown around in the blast itself. Even with the protection in the rescue pods, there was a chance that they had obtained severe injuries while inside the pod.

Hercules Hansen, the new Marshal of the Hong Kong Shatterdome, isn't truly aware of events over the next few hours. He is, at first, a mess of nerves and hope, too focused on keeping the press away from the incoming medical flight carrying Gipsy Danger's crew and keeping a tight hold on Max's leash as the bulldog tries tirelessly to go to Mako's side as she is offloaded from the chopper.

Mako is suffering from oxygen deprivation and a broken wrist, Herc overhears, as the medical staff wheel her to the med bay on a gurney. Raleigh pauses for a brief moment, swaying tiredly on his feet, to give Herc a rundown of events. He lays a heavy hand on Herc's shoulder, whispers his hopes into the older pilot's ears, and moves to follow his co-pilot to medical.

Having know the American for many years before Knifehead's attack, Herc doesn't begrudge Raleigh the comfort of his co-pilot's presence. After all, he and Chuck have been known to sit, silent and obstinate in that silence, by the other's bed after an injury warranted a stay in medical.

Chuck is flown in nearly two hours after Raleigh and Mako arrive and Herc has been dealing with the ever increasing numbers of reporters and photographers vying for a glimpse of the world's saviors. When he hears Chuck is on his way to medical, unconscious but with good odds, he punches out a reporter who tries to physically keep him from leaving.

He'll let the public relations team deal with any fallout, Herc thinks, it's what they're paid for after all.

Not even another category V Kaiju could keep him from his son's side.

It's another three days before Chuck shows signs of regaining consciousness. Herc is just returning from a coffee run, he leans over the edge of the bed, brushing strands of red hair from Chuck's forehead before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on his son's forehead.

Herc had promised the both of them that, if they survived Striker's final mission, he would allow them this one thing. He would give the two of them a chance at being the family that Angela dreamed of.

And they have survived.

Chuck wakes up with a soft breath as Herc is moving away.

"Quit bein' such a sap, old man." Are the most beautiful words Hercules Hansen has ever heard his son speak.


End file.
